Over recent years governments have been placing more emphasis on innovation as a source of national competitiveness. Governments now assess their investments across many areas in terms of the contribution that such investments make to increasing innovation. This has been especially significant for education and in particular for the development of…

Canadians often assume that what is said about education south of the U.S. border applies north of it as well. However Canada's international rankings are consistently higher than those of the U.S., primarily because of different social conditions (less inequality, less child poverty, etc.) and different educational policies (more equitable…

In many European languages, the words "assessment" and "evaluation" are synonymous, but in English the two terms are used differently. Educational "assessment" is learner-focused and part of professional pedagogy, relating directly to the accountability of practitioners and schools to learners and their families.…

This article features the "Cambridge Primary Review." The "Review" has been supported from the beginning by Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, and this has given it the independence which is essential to its credibility. Its remit was to investigate, report and make recommendations on the condition and future of primary education in…

There is an extensive international research literature on the impact of ability grouping (e.g. streaming or banding) on children's academic and behavioural outcomes. However, it is questionable to what extent the findings of research on this topic have influenced the practice of pupil ability grouping in New Zealand intermediate schools. Nine…

The researchers examined the most recent year of data (i.e., 2008-2009) from the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System regarding accountability ratings and student characteristics (i.e., ethnicity, programmatic enrollment, mobility) in elementary schools (n = 4,110). Accountability ratings (i.e., Exemplary, Recognized, Academically…

Although numerous writers have identified a different set of skills needed for employment in New Times, little analytic attention has been paid to how educational assessment policies contribute to envisioning such future citizens. This case study illustrates how Nova Scotia classroom assessment policy for Grades 7-9 English classes envisions young…

The purpose of this article is to bring together findings developed from the Schools and Continuing Professional Development in England--State of the Nation Study. This large-scale national study, commissioned by the Training and Development Agency for Schools, investigated the range and kinds of continuing professional development (CPD)…

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the changes that took place in school mathematics knowledge for pupils aged six and seven (first grade of Greek elementary school) and its pedagogical approach, which took shape following the reforms of the mathematics curricula in 1982 and 2003. Our analysis is based on Bernstein's theoretical…

As people who were involved with drafting the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP), the authors have taken the opportunity to respond to the very interesting perspectives in this special issue. The thoughts here represent only their views and are not an official statement of either the US Department of Education or the NETP Technical…

High quality measurements are important to evaluate interventions. The study reports on the development of a measurement to investigate authoritative teaching understood as a two-dimensional construct of warmth and control. Through the application of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) the factor structure…

The study aims at analyzing the achievement of Minimum Service Standards (MSS) in Basic Education through a case study at Magelang Municipality. The findings shall be used as a starting point to predict the needs to meet MMS by 2015 and to provide strategies for achievement. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study investigating the…

In this article, we analyzed research studies in the field of graduate education. In particular, we explored the issue of inequity in graduate education through three key lenses of social science analyses. Furthermore, we analyzed selected quantitative research studies that undertook a comparative examination of aggregate trends in enrollment and…

Early education has been a growing priority for the Obama administration, and its competitive funding is spurring innovation in this field around the country. In 2013, early education journalist Paul Nyhan, author of this report, conducted case studies of four competitive grant programs that are triggering changes in early education: "Race to…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were created in response to the shortcomings of No Child Left Behind era standards and assessments. Among those failings were the poor quality of content standards and assessments and the variability in content expectations and proficiency targets across states, as well as concerns related to the economic…